First Tea Fire Sale – 271 East Mountain Drive

We are currently representing the buyers on what we believe is the first sale of a property in the Tea Fire burn area.  Escrow was opened last week, at a list price of $1,100,000, on 271 East Mountain Drive.  At the time of the Tea Fire, the home was listed at $2,950,000, but it sustained signifcant fire damage and is being sold for land value.  This is a sigficant sale as it will begin the process of setting value for the area.  271 East Mountain is 2 ocean view acres adjacent to the western border of Westmont College in Cold Springs School district.  If you have questions regarding property value in this area, please feel free to contact us.

1929 San Roque Spanish – SOLD!

We have a great new listing in San Roque that we think will sell quickly: 112 Calle Palo Colorado is a remodeled/restored 1929 Spanish Style home in a really great part of San Roque. The home is warm and inviting and Calle Palo Colorado is a beautiful tree lined street from which you can easily walk to Peabody School, shops, restaurants and parks. If you or anyone you know is looking to move into San Roque, this may well be the house. It is listed at $1,050,000. If you would like to view additional photos, please go to www.sanroquespanish.com Or, if you would like to set up a showing, please give Kelly a call at 805.895.4406.

Santa Barbara Real Estate Statistics for January 2009

Here are the CORT Report documents for January 2009:

South County Sales Summary

South County Sales – Broken out by Address and Area

If you have any questions about the data you see, or need further assistance in this area, please contact Michael Day – 805.451.4433

Property Pick of the Week

This is one of those properties that makes real estate agents go “hmmm, how can I buy this?”. Located above Cliff Drive on the Mesa, 1562 La Vista Del Oceano has one of the best ocean views in Santa Barbara. While it possesses the ocean and Channel Island Views that most houses at it’s elavation have, it sits out on a “point” of sorts, that provides a coastline view over the harbor and on to Ventura and Malibu. The house has been situated so it’s main outdoor patio faces south and east to capture both views at once. Truly spectacular. When you couple this with the size of the house: 2700 +/- sq ft, and the price: $1,395,000, you get a very desirable property. Not that it doesn’t have it’s issues: It is being marketed “as-is” with most of the exterior doors and windows needing to be replaced, and there are water issues that need to be looked at. The kitchen and baths also need updating, but all in all it looks like a great house and a great value at it’s list price. It has been on the market only a short time, but the information I have is that it already has an offer or two on the way. So if you are interested, you will have to move fast!!!!

If you would like to see this property, please give one of us a call. We would be delighted to show it to you.

Goleta is Still Red Hot: Camino Venturoso Sold Quickly for Over Asking

The Goleta market continues to be very active with many properties selling fast with multiple offers (many of them cash). There are different theories on why this is happening, but there is little denying that the lower prices and very cheap money are playing a huge role. Our listing at 6553 Camino Venturoso is a good example of what happens when a well priced home hits the Goleta Market. 6553 Camino Venturoso is a large (2279 ft.) split level home on a beautiful tree lined street near Cathedral Oaks Rd. While the home needs updating and suffers from deferred maintenance, at a list price of $679,000 it attracted a lot of interest. Due to it being tenant occupied, it was difficult to show and we only had one public open house. Despite this, when it was time to review offers, there were four, two of them all cash at over asking.

If you are interested in taking advantage of the low interest rates and Goleta home prices, please give one of us a call. We would be delighted to help.

Interest Rates are Still at Historic Lows :-)

Say what you may about the strength of our local real estate market, but there is no denying that money is extremely cheap right now. While these number pertain to conforming loans, which currently means under 605,000, the current rates are truly remarkable: We have clients who signed their loan documents today on the purchase of their new home. They were able to get a 30 year fixed loan at 0 points with an interest rate of 4.625%. Countrywide even paid for their credit report and the appraisal. The only out of pocket charge was a $900.00 processing fee.

What does this mean for you? It means that if you currently have a loan amount under $605,000, you should look at refinancing. These rates are only going to be with us for a while, so lock in while you can. According to our source at Countrywide they locked in 45 loans on Monday alone.

What does this mean for the Santa Barbara real estate market? It means we should see a lot of activity in the lower end. Many first time buyers, or people on the side lines are seeing that this is their opportunity to get into a home in Santa Barbara. Home prices are low, and the money is as cheap as it will likely ever be. While many homes in our area are disqualified from taking advantage of the low rates due to the conforming loan limits, lower priced properties should continue to be hot commodities. (this will also mean that the median price in the South Coast will continue to go down, as the number of sales in the low end skew this statistic downward.)